Tom Guarriello pushes back on the idea that YouTube is just for kids. Older creators like Geriatric1927 are already there, and media culture has always been intergenerational. He tells older users to stay authentic and keep posting.
People try to put us to death. Talking about my generation. Just because we get around. Talking about—
All right, look, Crazy Mellow Mob, here's the deal. You know, people think that anything that's new has to only be for kids. And, you know, part of it is that folks, uh, let's see, I'm about, I don't know, I guess 7, 8 years older than you are, uh, and folks, you know, in our age range, um, are kind of slow on the uptake with some of the new things, you know, and So when there are some of us here who are into this and enjoying ourselves and doing stuff that, you know, is supposed to be only for kids, we're going to be outliers. You know, we're going to be, you know, odd, odd types. And stereotypes create problems for people because they can't, they can't manage, you know, like the, uh, they can't manage the dissonance. You know, it's supposed to be this, but you're that. It's supposed to be— Grandma's putting her pie recipes up on YouTube. What does that do? It kills the cachet. Well, no, what it does is it proves that what's here is bigger than what people thought. It's bigger. It's more than just something for kids. You know, I mean, it seems to me that MySpace is the one with a problem. MySpace is the one that's got a very narrow appeal. And, you know, the thing about kids is kids grow up, you know, and when kids grow up, they go on and they do something else. But this is beyond kids. This is, this is for people to be able to connect with one another in ways that are deeper than just, you know, whether or not you're a kid. I have young viewers that I really respect and I enjoy hearing from, and I made a video just the other day talking about how people in our generation You know, our time is passing, and many of us are accelerating that passing by really not being too interested in what's going on. And, you know, like we were the end of everything, and it was all going to be about, you know, the '60s. And, you know, you have to remember, we saturate this culture with '60s stuff. You can't turn on the television and not hear, you know, '60s music in a commercial, you know, creeping into the '70s now, you know, there's some ELO now on commercials too. So it's like, it's just hard for people to not put you in a box. And, you know, clearly beating people up on the golf course and stuff like that, elder abuse, and, you know, yeah, maybe it's the proverbial slippery slope and all that, but, you know, I think we've got to take a step back and understand people don't expect people to do things that are out of character. And, you know, take a look at Geriatric. I mean, if there was any— if anybody's responsible for you— for the growth of YouTube in the last 6 months more than Geriatric, Lonelygirl15 and Geriatric1927. Talk about a generation gap. I mean, There's two people who not only are generationally different, but who are different in about as many dimensions as you can think of in the way that they've used YouTube. And both have been huge, huge successes here. Plenty of room for us old folks along with the kids. So, uh, stay cool, Crazy Mabel. We're gonna stay on this thing and, you know, be ourselves. Take it easy.
Bye.
